Here’s what you need:
- Decorative paper
- An item you want to decorate
- Découpage glue or plain Elmer’s Glue
- A couple cheap paint brushes or sponge brushes
- Varnish or other transparent coating
Decorative Paper
You can use just about any kind of paper for this project. Some ideas include:- newspaper
- origami paper
- wrapping paper
- decorative napkins
- art paper that you’ve drawn or painted on
- pages or illustrations from a book
- magazine cuttings
Glue
Your local craft store will have products designed specifically for découpage (such as Mod Podge), but you can use Elmer’s glue just as easily. Add water to it so it doesn’t go on too thick or gloppy. It’s best to brush a thin layer of glue down on the object, then press the paper down. Once it’s dried, you can brush on another layer of the glue to increase the chance it will stay stuck. You’ll want to let a layer of glue dry, then add another and another. I usually apply a total of three to four layers, depending on how thick the paper is. You have to let it dry completely between each application.Object to Decorate
The object’s surface matters. If it’s too slick or non-porous, like plastic or wood that’s already been varnished, you will have a hard time getting the glue to stay. You can use sandpaper to sand texture into the surface of your object, if you’re worried it will reject the bond. Objects I’ve used in the past include:- a cheap, naked wood box from the craft store
- a wood plaque or left-over scrap of wood from another project
- an old wooden crate
- an old coffee table
- a picture frame
- a lamp shade
- cabinet doors
- a cardboard box
- wood shapes hung to make an artsy mobile
Varnish
After your glue and paper are completely dry (may take a day or two), you can apply the varnish on top. You may have spray varnish (my preference) or paint-on varnish. Either way, you want to try to get it on as evenly as you can. Be sure to follow the safety instructions with varnish. It is not a toy. The varnish (aka shellac) will protect the surface from wear and tear. It also can add a shine if you choose a glossy or semi-gloss variety. Give the varnish plenty of time to dry or you’ll end up putting your fingerprint in it. I know this from experience. And voila! You have a gift or decorative item that you created with love, whimsy, and a touch of class.Some Basic Tips
- Cut your paper and lay it on before you begin gluing to make sure it fits and looks good.
- You can paint or stain your object before you apply the découpage if you’d like. If your paint is slick and non-porous when dry, you may need to sand it a bit to keep the paper and shellac from peeling off.
- If using very thin paper, like decorative napkins, you’ll want to use a roller to press it down, so it doesn’t wrinkle when wet. You can use a rolling pin or hard tube if you don’t have a craft roller.
- Some people use fabric instead of paper. Thin cotton or other natural fabrics work best because they’re porous and keep color well.
- You can also découpage on glass, such as on vases or picture frame glass. This is a more advanced undertaking though, and I recommend you find some tutorials online before you tackle it.
- You can use Découpage to spruce up old furniture. It can bring an old dresser, wooden chair, or even a table back to life. You can give it personality for a kid, teen, or even for yourself.
Stalking the Moon
Wyrdwood Welcome
Book One
Angel Leigh McCoy
Genre: Supernatural Suspense
Publisher: Wily Writers
Wyrdwood Welcome
Book One
Angel Leigh McCoy
Genre: Supernatural Suspense
Publisher: Wily Writers
Date of Publication: April 24, 2020
ISBN: 978-1950427055
ASIN: B0832JJRPG
Number of pages: 290
Word Count: 88,868
Cover Artist: DIStudios.pl
Tagline: A New Mythology for the 21st Century
Book Description:
Normal life is complicated enough. Add magick to the mix, and suddenly all hell breaks loose!
Viviane doesn't have time for voices in her head or monsters in her bed! Her family relies on her. She's in charge of a mentally ill mother, a sneaky grandfather, and a sexy (but delusional) fiancé. And yet, the whispers in her mind are barging into Reality—with claws and teeth and murderous intent.
When her fiancé goes missing, she'll do anything to find him. If that means magical, mythical creatures hunt her down, then so be it. This could be the end of her life as she's known it, but well… Consequences be damned.
Excerpt
from STALKING THE MOON by Angel Leigh McCoy
The staff
entrance was on the women’s wing, near the employee parking lot. Out of habit,
I entered there. Nurses, orderlies, and doctors all greeted me as I made my way
to Richard’s office.
Richard was
seated at his desk. "Hey, Vivi. Come on in." He rebuttoned the collar
of his white, custom-fitted dress shirt.
"Howdy."
I shut the door behind me and went to the leather couch. It was overstuffed
with a high back and deep seat. I felt small on it, but that was part of
Richard’s evil plot. Plus, it would have been impossible to fall off it while
under hypnosis. It cradled me.
"What part
of my psyche are we going to poke today?"
Richard folded
his arms on the desk, a pen flapping in one hand as he looked me over. "I
want to revisit your early days," he said. "I’ve been going through
the transcripts of our sessions, compiling them, and there are a couple things
I’d like to revisit."
"Let’s get
to it then."
The first time I
met Richard, back in the early days, he was finishing his last year as a
graduate student in the Psychology Department at the University of Illinois. He
was in Peoria doing an internship at the counseling center, and Abram had
dragged me there to get my head fixed—at the junior high principal’s request.
Back then,
Richard had a long ponytail and was every teenage girl’s dream of the older
college boy. I was only thirteen, and he was taller than me, though that
changed when I had my growth spurt a few years later.
Thirteen-year-old
Me had gone into his office with a chip on my shoulder, hating Abram, hating my
illness, and hating Dr. Richard Reuter before I’d even met him.
He'd appeared in
the waiting room and asked, "Viviane? Right? Would you come with me?"
"I don’t
got a choice."
Abram hissed,
"Hey," at me, and said "Be nice."
"Yeah,
sure."
I walked into
the office and went straight to a chair, flopped there, and crossed my arms on
my chest. The first thing I noticed that interested me was the plate of cookies
on the coffee table. They were chocolate chip and appeared homemade. I
pretended not to see them. I didn’t want him to think I was going to stay all
that long, and besides, my stomach didn’t feel too good.
Richard sat in
the chair opposite me and watched me for a full minute. Finally, he asked,
"How old are you?"
"Fifteen."
It was a bold-faced lie.
"I know
you’re lying."
I asked,
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-nine."
"Are you
gay?" I said with vehemence, calculating his possible reactions.
He didn’t even
flinch. "Viviane, do you know why your grandfather brought you here?"
"Because
he’s a sociopath afraid of being noticed. I draw attention to him, and he wants
me to stop."
He smiled at
that, and for the first time, but not the last, I thought how handsome he was.
In that first
session, he didn't hypnotize me, though later, it became a regular part of our
therapy sessions. Richard felt it was the best way to track down the source of
my hallucinations. He would take me back to the time before my first
hallucination, and we'd go over the events of a day or two in each session,
gradually working forward through my memories. It was my own personal
reality-TV show.
One time, I had
what can only be described as a past-life memory, or maybe a dream. Both
Richard and I waved it off as an aberration, though I never forgot it. The
dream had been wonderful, about a place with emerald hills, crystal streams,
and a palace that felt like home. Whenever I thought about it, I could still
imagine the smell of honeysuckle on the breeze.
Twenty years
later, I was thirty-three, and our regressions were catching up to the
conscious flow of time. In the hypnosis sessions, he recorded my soul in bits
and pieces, saved forever as audio recordings, transcribed to digital
documents, and printed out on paper. He kept the files in his cabinets.
I’d often
wondered what would happen when we finally caught up to the present moment.
Maybe I’d die. Maybe he’d die. Maybe the entire world would end as the
Ouroboros swallowed its own tail.
"All
right." Richard got up from his desk. "I’m ready, if you are."
He sat in the chair opposite me and leaned forward to turn on the metronome.
I said,
"Take me to a happy day."
"You know
the drill. Close your eyes, relax, and remember."
Not every tick
and tock of the metronome sounded the same. The differences were subtle, but
they were there if I listened for them. It was a song without rhyme or reason.
It started small
and distant: tick.
The cuckoo clock
on the wall at Abram’s house had to be wound. I loved pulling the chains that
raised the heavy, metal pinecones. Tock. It had been my job, every morning,
when I was a kid. My body rocked to the beat: tick tock. Time ebbed, and space
flowed. My spine relaxed. Tick. Gravity released me. Tock. The metronome sang
its song in my belly. Tick tock. I was energy, and I radiated.
"We’re
going to continue our journey back in time," Richard said. The waves of
his voice rippled through me, and the present faded into the background.
I followed the
metronome down into a trance. We had a signal. I raised a finger to indicate
that I was ready to begin.
"Go
back," Richard suggested, "to the moment when you first met Simon,
when you were thirteen."
The scene formed
around me, inside me, throughout me.
"Describe
it to me."
I’m home, and
I’m taking a shower. There’s blood running down my leg. It’s swirling in the
water and spinning down the drain. I know what it is. Lettie’s had hers since
last year, and she took me to buy the stuff I’d need. I’m really glad I didn’t
have to do that with my grandpa.
Lettie and me,
we read the little instruction book that came in the box and made fun of the
pictures. She warned me how it would be, the cramps and mess, but it’s worse
when it’s actually happening. It’s scary and weird. I keep thinking that my
blood is supposed to stay in my body.
So, I’m standing
there in the shower, watching my blood drain away, and I’m trying not to cry,
wondering if I’m going to die, and that’s when I hear a man. He sounds like
James Bond. "You’re probably not going to die."
I scream and
cover my private parts with my hands, but no one’s there.
The voice says,
"What I mean is, you are going to be just fine." But nobody’s there.
I’m freaking out. I jump out of the shower and run through the house. I’m
screaming.
The voice is
following me. "Oh, lass, it’s okay."
I streak into
the kitchen, and my grandpa is there, trying to calm me down.
I’m crying,
naked and wet, shaking all over, blood staining my leg, and Grandpa thinks I’m
upset because of my period, but that isn’t it. It’s the man talking to me right
next to my ear, when there’s nobody there.
He says his name
is Simon.
The metronome
sang. Tick. Tock.
Angel Leigh McCoy wears author, game designer, and audiobook narrator hats—sometimes simultaneously. She is the creative force behind the Wyrdwood series of novels and the Dire Multiverse audio drama. She was a senior writer on the award-winning video games CONTROL and GUILD WARS 2. Her work on the White Wolf World of Darkness series included books for Mage, Vampire, Changeling, and several others. She was also the first female game designer on the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS team at Wizards of the Coast. These days, she works from home and is intent on building her own epic worlds, including Wyrdwood and the Dire Multiverse. Her cats approve.
Prizes:
1
Audible.com 3-month membership (or 3 credits if you’re already a
member). Entitles you to partake of the Audible Originals titles offered free
each month to members. (all-told, a $45 value) If you’ve ever wanted to try
audiobooks, this is the time.
5
- Wyrdwood Welcome Swag Bags
Each swag bag includes:
-Free ebook copy of JUMPING THE
MOON, Wyrdwood Welcome Book #2, due for release on May 15, 2020.
-A “Proud to be Wyrd” pin
-A Wyrdwood magnet
-Invitation to the private and
exclusive Wyrdwood Facebook group
-Treats from the “Wyrdwood
Candiporium”
-A surprise toy!
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